We are protesting today against the human
rights abuses happening in Quebec at the moment against
those who are protesting at the Summit of the Americas free
trade meeting.

The city of Quebec is surrounded by an
eight foot chain link fence to exclude protestors, which is
itself illegal under Canada's charter. But even outside this
area, in "green zones" where protest is still legal and
where it is supposed to be safe to bring children, peaceful
protestors have been teargassed, shot with hard plastic
bullets and metal "beanbags" fired from shotguns, and beaten
by police. Many protestors are in hospital, including one
young man who was shot in the throat with a plastic
bullet.

The office of CMAQ, a coalition of independent
news media was teargassed and had rubber bullets fired up
their stairwell by riot police. The medical center for the
protest was also teargassed and shut down at gun point.
Medics and patients forced down the stairs and made to walk
down the road in single file. Some were beaten. Medical
supplies were taken by police.

At last count, 430 people
had been confirmed arrested, many in the early hours of
yesterday morning. Most were charged with minor offences
such as criminal mischief and "being suspect" - a charge
that doesn't appear to be a legal offence. Also arrested was
protest organiser Jaggi Singh, who has not been charged
but will be held in jail until Wednesday. In an arrest that
more closely resembled a kidnapping, Jaggi was attacked and
beaten by undercover police officers when he was walking
down the street in Quebec. When bystanders attempted to
intervene, the officers pulled out batons and announced they
were police. Jaggi was thrown into an unmarked van, and it
was several hours before friends and organisers were able to
track him down in a Quebec jail. Other organisers have also
been arrested, harassed and had their houses broken into by
police.

The Canadian government is attempting to prevent
these people from exercising their human rights of freedom
of speech, and association, and of freedom from arbitrary
arrest and assault by police. These human rights abuses are
aimed at ensuring that 33 heads of state can meet in secret
to discuss a free trade deal that would open all of North
and South America to unrestricted trade and investment.

We
are in Solidarity with the protesters in Quebec, and support
them in their message of putting people before profit. We
also support them in their right to protest.

An important
principle is at stake here, that everyone, everywhere, has
inalienable human rights and that these have been
violated.

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